RUSTON — Jens Danielsen has played football nearly his entire life. Two of his fondest memories — both good and bad — happen to have come against Rice.

Louisiana Tech's senior offensive lineman would prefer to forget about the negative — a 52-14 drubbing at Rice in 2013 — and remember the positive — the Bulldogs' 76-31 win in 2014.

"They busted us pretty bad. That wasn't a good feeling," Danielsen recalled earlier this week.

"They are two completely different stories. Last year was a great feeling. I think that's the most points I've scored in a game. The year before that, that was probably one of the worst games I've ever been beaten. That just wasn't enjoyable. We need to learn from both of them and prepare for this week to go out to win the game."

Based off a three-year trend between the Tech-Rice series, Rice should enter Friday's game in Houston as almost a seven-touchdown favorite.

Why? Because the home team has won the last three meetings by an average of 34 points.

But considering the makeup of the current teams — they were picked to finish as the top two teams in the Conference USA West Division — both coaches, who happen to be close friends, are expecting the exact opposite.

"I am expecting a close game," Tech coach Skip Holtz said. "You look at it and we went down there two years ago, and to be honest with you, we weren't a very good football team at the time. I thought they had a really good football team that year. Last year, we came out and they turned the ball over five times, they made some mistakes and we were able to capitalize on it."

Some mistakes is being kind. Tech jumped all over Rice and never let up, pouring on 76 points to clinch the C-USA West title.

To say Tech was out for revenge at the time for 2013 would be an understatement. Looking back, Tech's season was one to forget at 4-8, but the Rice game stuck out like a sore thumb.

Rice piled up 582 total yards and a whopping 415 rushing yards. Rice simply dominated Tech and the Bulldogs had no answer. Running back Charles Ross ran and ran and ran some more before he ended up with five touchdowns.

"52-14. Everybody remembers it," Holtz said. "I said it in front of the team for those that were here two years ago. We went down there and got embarrassed. You remember the attitude we had as we circled Rice and said that's the one game to look for. Well, right now that's how Rice looks at us."

With the stakes even higher in 2014, Tech scored 42 unanswered points in the second half to run away with a 76-31 win.

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Like Holtz, Rice coach David Bailiff doesn't even need to discuss last year's outcome with his players.

"We’ll certainly remind them, but then you don’t have to bring it up a lot because they know," Bailiff said. "We don’t like getting beat in that fashion. Our players remember what happened there.”

The 2015 version brings a new match-up. Tech's isn't turning teams over like 2014 and the Bulldogs are more susceptible in the passing game.

Rice has a veteran offensive line with a veteran quarterback in Driphus Jackson who has started to increase his production after a slow start to the year. On defense, Holtz thinks Rice is faster than 2014 and can give Tech trouble with its nickel scheme.

The bread-and-butter for Rice is its top-ranked rushing offense in C-USA at 195 yards per game. Conversely, Tech has the top-ranked run defense, holding teams to just 98.9 yards per game. The Owls like to control the game with time of possession (34:42 per game) and keeping defense on the field with a high third-down conversion rate (53.6 percent).

But failing to mention Tech's offensive strides would do an injustice to Jeff Driskel, who will lead the Bulldogs' 21st-ranked offense into Texas on Friday.

"Driskel, the quarterback, looks like he’s been there for years the way he’s running that offense," Bailiff said.

Driskel has kept the offense churning even without Kenneth Dixon, who missed two games due to injury. Dixon returned last and scored four touchdowns on just 17 touches against Middle Tennessee and is line for an increased workload assuming his ankle holds up.

Louisiana Tech wins if: Tech's triplets can keep the offense rolling. Quarterback Jeff Driskel, running back Kenneth Dixon and wide receiver Trent Taylor have been on fire of late. Driskel and Dixon helped account for all five of Tech's offensive touchdowns against Middle Tennessee, while Dixon and Taylor racked up nearly half of the Bulldogs' yards on offense.

Louisiana Tech loses if: the Bulldogs can't get off the field on third downs. Rice is converting more than half of its third down tries this year and leads C-USA in time of possession. Tech has struggled on third-and-long this season, meaning extended drives could lead to tired legs.